Poor man's NavPod

[geary126]

gents:

have purchased Garmin 440s. Wife somehow agreed. Now, I need to put it somewhere. Attached, exhibit A, are some options.

I can't swing a NavPod. $, also, I don't want to leave the electronics front and center for 6 months.

So, was considering either a 1) Ram Mount, off the rail, or 2) attaching a shelf of some sort between the guard rails, with the Garmin bracket screwed into the shelf (thus, Garmin sits on shelf.)

option 3 is mounting next, not between the guard rails, using either a Ram Mount or a homemade 3 x 8" shelf.

One thing that worries me is using a ram mount in either scenario, with the unit sticking out almost horizontally. Seems like too much force at play to support a gps (vs. having it alligned vertically, as pictured.)

Option 4, which I just thought about: what if I attach the Garmin from the top of the guard rail, hanging under the semi circle?

Final question is: assume I route cables somehow, up through a hole on the guard rail. (Or should it be, the pedestal? Not sure I can route cables in that 1" pipe, as the connectors are large.) When I take the GPS off at night / end of season, the cables (and delicate connectors) will be open air.

Does anybody make a cover for wires? Do I use a zip lock?

Thanks, as always.

[geary126]

Oh. Here's the photo. Note the faint white rectangle...possible location for "shelf."

[Freesail99]

You could mount a board with U bolts. I have a garmin 498c, thats my plan.

[christyleigh]

Here's a Radar/GPS Chartplotter I mounted on a home made swing arm to be viewable anywhere in the cockpit on my previous boat and a GPS Chartplotter I mounted on a sailtrack also for full cockpit viewing on my current boat with another sailtrack inside at the other helm. They both disconnected for storage.

[Paysay]

Geary,
Edson makes a GPS mount that attaches to the guard rail. I installed on last winter and it works great and looks good too.
Try this:Edson Sailboat Products Virtual eCatalog: Page 51

[Giulietta]

Ahhh Señor...in my Country...we are so poor we need to use the mother in law to hold the GPS for us...

[hellosailor]

Geary, there are covers and plugs available to close off all kinds of exposed fittings. Finding them for the cables Garmin provides may be difficult, but they must exist. If they don't, something can usually be improvised, i.e. an old plastic Magic Marker cap or something similar held on with a small strap and used to cap off the exposed wire. Or you can clamp a couple of inches of tubing (i.e. 1" PVC with a pipe cap on top) next to the cable and just push it up inside that to keep rain off it when disconnected. "Real" marine connectors are often sold with the caps attached, Garmin isn't quite that "marine" yet.

If you run the wire through the guard rail, you still have to get it through the deck. So if you can squeak it through the steering column (and add chafe protection if you can, i.e. a layer of PVC or Tygon tubing over it) you'll have one less hole to drill in the deck. Dummy it up first to make sure the electronics won't interfere with the binnacle compass.

All the fittings should have a little silicon jelly on them anyway, to help keep out moisture and corrosion.